Using unified API to program both servers and fabric for forwarding for fine-grained network optimizations

ABSTRACT

As an overview, the present disclosure presents a system for increasing network optimization. In particular, the disclosure discusses a unified system for control of data routing in a dynamic network. In some implementations, edge devices (i.e., hosts or exterior switches) are interconnected through a network fabric (i.e., a plurality of interior switches). The hosts and switches include forwarding engines, which determine the next destination of incoming traffic. The disclosure discusses a network controller that collects application requirements and programs the forwarding engines of the edge devices and the network fabric responsive to the application requirements.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims priority to U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 61/937,933 filed on Feb. 10, 2014, and titled “USINGUNIFIED API TO PROGRAM BOTH SERVERS AND FABRIC FOR DATA FORWARDING,”which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

Datacenters include a large number of interconnected host devices. Thehost devices often run multiple applications, and each of theapplications have specific network requirements. In standard datacenternetworks, data routes through a network are controlled by switchesirrespective of the specific network requirements of the applications.

SUMMARY

According to one aspect of the disclosure, a method of controllingnetwork routes includes providing a network. The network includes aplurality of edge devices and a plurality of core switches. Each of theplurality of edge devices executes an application having an applicationrequirement. Each of the plurality of edge devices also have aforwarding engine. The plurality of core switches interconnect theplurality of edge devices. The network also includes a networkcontroller coupled to each of the plurality of edge devices and theplurality of core switches. The method also includes receiving, by thenetwork controller, the application requirement of the applicationexecuting on each of the plurality of edge devices. The method furtherincludes determining, by the network controller, a plurality of routesresponsive to the received application requirements. Finally, the methodincludes programming, by the network controller, the forwarding engineof each of the plurality of edge devices and a forwarding engine of eachof the plurality of core switches responsive to the determined pluralityof routes.

According to another aspect of the disclosure, a system for controllingnetwork routes includes a network. The network includes a plurality ofedge devices, each of the plurality of edge devices executing anapplication having an application requirement. Each of the plurality ofedge devices also has a forwarding engine. The network further includesa plurality of core switches interconnecting the plurality of edgedevices. The system also includes a network controller coupled to eachof the plurality of edge devices and the plurality of core switches. Thenetwork controller is configure to receive the application requirementof the application executing on each of the plurality of edge devices.The network controller is also configured to determine a plurality ofroutes responsive to the received application requirements, and programthe forwarding engine of each of the plurality of edge devices and aforwarding engine of each of the plurality of core switches responsiveto the determined plurality of routes.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The skilled artisan will understand that the figures, described herein,are for illustration purposes only. It is to be understood that in someinstances various aspects of the described implementations may be shownexaggerated or enlarged to facilitate an understanding of the describedimplementations. In the drawings, like reference characters generallyrefer to like features, functionally similar and/or structurally similarelements throughout the various drawings. The drawings are notnecessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustratingthe principles of the teachings. The drawings are not intended to limitthe scope of the present teachings in any way. The system and method maybe better understood from the following illustrative description withreference to the following drawings in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an example datacenter network.

FIG. 2 illustrates a flow chart of a method for controlling networkroutes using the network controller illustrated in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 illustrates a flow chart of a method for routing data through anetwork using the network controller illustrated in FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The various concepts introduced above and discussed in greater detailbelow may be implemented in any of numerous ways, as the describedconcepts are not limited to any particular manner of implementation.Examples of specific implementations and applications are providedprimarily for illustrative purposes.

In datacenters, an application's performance may be adversely affectedwhen the network cannot route data in a manner that meets the networkrequirements of the application. The problem may be compounded whendifferent applications, with different types of network requirements,are all executing within the same datacenter.

As an overview, the present disclosure presents a system for increasingnetwork optimization. In particular, the disclosure discusses a unifiedsystem to control data routing in a dynamic network. In someimplementations, edge devices (i.e., hosts or exterior switches) areinterconnected through a network fabric (i.e., a plurality of interiorswitches). The hosts and switches include forwarding engines, whichdetermine the next destination of incoming traffic.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example data center network 100. The data centernetwork 100 includes a logically centralized controller 190. The datacenter network 100 also includes a plurality of core switches 101, eachcontaining a forwarding engine 107. The network 100 further includes aplurality of network edge devices 102. Each of the network edge devices102 are coupled to a switch 104. Each of the network edge devices 102include a plurality of hosts 105 executing one or more applications 106.The core switches 101 and edge devices 102 are connected by a pluralityof data links 103. The core switches 101 and edge devices 102 areconnected to the network controller 190 by links 110. In someimplementations, the network controller 190 is connected to the networkthrough one or more data links 103, and the network controller 190 usesthe data link 103 to communicate with each of the core switches 101 andedge devices 102.

The network 100 includes a plurality of core switches 101. In someimplementations, the network 100 includes thousands, tens of thousands,or hundreds of thousand core switches 104. The core switches 101 arerouters, switching chips, collections of servers, or any other device orarrangement of devices capable of routing information from one port toanother. In some implementations, the core switches 101 form one or moreaggregation layers in the network 100, and route data between theplurality of edge devices 102. For example, core switch 101 c may beused to route data from edge device 102 a to edge device 102 b.

The core switches 101 (and below described switches 104) includeforwarding engines 107. The forwarding engines 107 process incoming datapackets to determine a data packet's next destination or a route for thedata packet. The forwarding engine 107 extracts address information fromthe data packet (e.g., an IP address or other data from a packet header)and processes it to determine how to handle the data packet (e.g., towhich core switch 101 or edge devices 102 the data packet should next beforwarded) using the specialized data structures and methods describedherein. In some implementations, the forwarding engine 107 references arouting table, forwarding information base, routing information base, orsimilar data structure (generally referenced as a data routing structureherein) that stores routing data. In some implementations, the datarouting structure identifies a plurality of routes that are configuredresponsive to the different requirements of the applications 106.

In some implementations, the forwarding engines 107 are implemented as aspecial purpose circuit (e.g., an ASIC). In some implementations, theforwarding engines 107 is implemented as a set of computer executableinstruction sets stored in computer accessible memory and executed byone or more computing processors.

The network 100 also includes a plurality of edge devices 102. Each ofthe edge devices 102 include a switch 104 and a plurality of hosts 105,each of which are executing one or more applications 106. The hosts 105of a given edge device 102 are interconnected through the switch 104.

Each of the edge devices 102 include a number (n) of hosts 105. Thehosts 105 are servers or other computing systems, such as thosedescribed below. In some implementations, the hosts 105 of a given edgedevice 102 are arranged in server racks and each of the server racks,communicate with the core switches 101 through the switch 104. In someimplementations, a plurality of edge devices 102 are grouped together toform a superblock of edge device 102. In some implementations, the edgedevices 102 of a superblock are each coupled to the same aggregationlayer device (e.g., core switch 101).

Each of the hosts 105 execute one or more applications 106. Theapplications 106 are collections of processor executable instructionsstored on a computer readable medium. The applications 106 may also bereferred to as programs, software, software applications, scripts, orcode. Each of the applications 106 route data through the network 100and have hard and soft network related requirements. The requirementscan include bandwidth requirements, latency requirements, or specialservice requirements, such as SSL, load balancing, specific pathsthrough intermediate nodes, or other special services that may berequired to process the data. Soft requirements are the networkrequirements under which the application's performance in substantiallyoptimal. Accordingly, an application 106 can still proceed when the softrequirements are not met. However, hard requirements are the networkrequirements that must be met for the application 106 to proceed. Forexample, a host 105 may be executing a communication application thatrequires low latency data transfer with another host 105. In someimplementations, the switch 104 is a virtual switch and executes on ahost 105 like an application 106.

As described above, the applications 106 route data through the network100. In some implementations, the applications 106 access the datarouting structures provided by the network controller 190 to determine aroute for the data packets it generates. For example, the data routingstructure may include different routes pursuant to the differentrequirements the applications 106 have at different times. As theapplication 106 generates data packets, the application 106 constructsthe data packet such that the data packet is properly routed through thenetwork by the switches 101 and 104. In some implementations, theapplications 106 encode the route information in the header of thepacket. In some implementations, the applications 106 (or othercomponents of the network 100) use source routing, dynamic sourcerouting, multiprotocol label switching (MPLS), generic routingencapsulation (GRE), loose source routing, or a combination thereof toroute data through the network 100. For example, the application 106 canincorporate routing information in each of its data packets using a setof MPLS stacked static labels or a set of nested GRE headers. As anexample using GRE, the application 106, referencing a data routingstructure, determines an appropriate route for its data responsive thepresent requirements of the application 106. The application 106 thenencapsulates the route information in a plurality of nested headers. Thedata packet is then transmitted, by the switch 104, to a first coreswitch 101. At each hop (e.g., switch 101 along the route), thereceiving switch exposes the next encapsulated header to identify thenext hop, until the final destination is reached.

Each of the plurality of edge devices 102 also include a switch 104. Insome implementations, the switches 104 are top-of-rack (TOR) switchesthat route data internally within a given edge device 102 (i.e., betweenthe plurality of hosts 105 of an edge device 102) and externally to thegiven edge device 102 (i.e., to a specific core switch 101). In someimplementations, the switches 104 of the edge devices 102 are routers,switching chips, or any other device or arrangement of devices capableof routing information from one port to another. In someimplementations, the switches 104 of the edge devices 102 are virtualswitches and the core switches 101 are physical switches.

The network 100 also includes a network controller 190. The networkcontroller 190 includes a utilization module 108 and a route programmingmodule 109. The components of the network controller 190 are describedin turn below, but in general the network controller 190 increases theapplications' utilization of the network 100 by programming the switches101 and the edge devices 102 with a single, unified API to routeresponsive to the application requirements. In some implementation, thenetwork controller 190 reduces the complexity of datacenter networkconfigurations. For example, rather than provisioning specific regionsof a network to meet specific application requirements and then placingnew hosts in the network responsive to applications they execute, hostscan be added to a network not specifically provisioned to meet theirapplication requirements. The specific application requirements may thenbe met by the network controller configuring specific routes for each ofthe application requirements.

The components of the network controller 190 can be implemented byspecial purpose logic circuitry (e.g., an FPGA (field programmable gatearray), an ASIC (application specific integrated circuit)) or a generalpurpose computing device.

In some implementations, the network 100 includes a plurality of networkcontrollers 190. When a network 100 includes a plurality of networkcontrollers 190, each of the plurality of network controllers 190control only a portion of the network 100. For example, each networkcontroller 190 may generate the routes for the edge devices 102belonging to a specific superblock. In this example, if data is to berouted to a destination host within a second superblock, the firstnetwork controller provides a route to the second superblock, but oncethe data reaches the second superblock a second network controllerprovides the route to the destination host.

The network controller 190 includes a utilization module 108 and a routeprogramming module 109. The utilization module 108 periodicallyretrieves (or is sent) the hard and soft requirements of each of theapplications 106 executing in the network 100. In some implementations,the utilization module 108 is a component of the network controller 190,and in other implementations the utilization module 108 is locatedseparately from the network controller 190. In some implementations, theutilization module 108 includes an API, which enables the applications106 to interface with the utilization module 108. In someimplementations, the utilization module 108 provides feedback regardingthe network utilization to the applications 106. For example, theutilization module 108 may inform a host 105 when the network 100 hassufficient resources available to meet the hard and/or soft requirementsof an application 106 the host 105 wishes to execute. Furthering theexample, a first application may be executing, which requires largeamounts of bandwidth to properly execute. The utilization module 108 maymonitor the network and notify the host 105 (or the first application)when sufficient bandwidth is available in the network 100 for the firstapplication to properly execute. In some implementations, theutilization module 108 also collects information regarding the network100. For example, the utilization module 108 may collect informationabout core switches 101, edge devices 102, and links coming online orgoing offline.

The network controller also includes a route programming module 109. Asdescribed above, the route programming module 109 programs, using asingle, unified API, the data routing structures and the forwardingengines 107 of the network 100. In some implementations, the routeprogramming module 109 is a special purpose circuit (e.g., an ASIC), andin other implementations, the route programming module 109 isimplemented as a set of computer executable instruction sets stored incomputer accessible memory and executed by one or more computingprocessors. The route programming module 109 programs the data routingstructures of each switch 101 and 104 using the same applicationprogramming interface (API) or protocol such as, but not limited to,OpenFLow, Open vSwitch Database Management Protocol (OVSDB), NetworkConfiguration Protocol (NETCONF), Cisco Location Identifier SeparationProtocol (LISP), or Border Gateway Protocol (BGP). The route programmingmodule 109 assimilates the utilization information gathered by theutilization module 108 to generate a plurality routes to meet theplurality of application requirements. The route programming module 109then programs each of the switches 101 and edge devices 102 of thenetwork 100 with the plurality of generated routes. In someimplementations, the network controller 190 programs each forwardingengine 107 with a plurality of data routing structures, which theforwarding engines use responsive to the current applicationrequirements. For example, the switch 104 are programmed with a firstdata routing structure to be used under a first set of requirements(e.g., present and future application requirements) and a second datarouting structure to be used under a second set of requirements. Then,responsive to the requirements of the edge devices 102, the edge devices102 selects which data routing structure to when forwarding a specificdata packet. In some implementations, the one or more data routingstructures for a single switch are stored in a single routing table orsimilar structure. In these implementations, the forwarding engine 107uses a hash or other function to select the appropriate route or nexthop for a data packet. The network controller 190 and its components aredescribed further in relation to the methods illustrated in FIGS. 2 and3.

FIG. 2 illustrates a flow chart of a method 200 for controlling networkroutes. First, a network is provided (step 201). Then, a networkcontroller receives an application requirement (step 202). The networkcontroller then determines a routes responsive to the receivedapplication requirement (step 203). Finally, the switches of the networkare programmed with the plurality of routes (step 204).

As set forth above, and referring to FIG. 1, a network is provided (step201). As illustrated in FIG. 1, the network includes a plurality ofinterconnected core switches 101 and edge devices 102. The edge devices102 execute one or more applications 106. Each of the applications 106have one or more requirements, such as, but not limited to, bandwidthrequirements and latency requirements.

Next, a network controller receives at least one application requirement(step 202). The network controller, via the utilization module, mayprovide the applications executing on the edge devices with an API,which enables the applications to update the network controller withtheir application requirements. In some implementations, theapplications provide the utilization module with its requirements insubstantially real time (i.e., as the application's requirementsevolve), and in other implementations, the application provides thenetwork controller with its requirements during an initiation phase ofthe application or at predetermined intervals. The applicationrequirements include present and future requirements such, but notlimited to capacity, bandwidth, latency, and special services like SSL.

Responsive to receiving the requirements, the network controllerdetermines a plurality of routes (step 203) and programs the hosts andforwarding engines with the routes (step 204). In an example where theapplications provide the network controller with their requirements insubstantially real time, as a first edge device processes data thatneeds to be transferred to a second edge device, the first edge devicemay indicate to the network controller that the first edge device willshortly need a large amount of bandwidth to transfer the data.Accordingly, the network controller determines new routes for the firstedge device to use and programs the edge device with the updated datarouting structure, which includes routes configured to provide the edgedevice the required bandwidth.

FIG. 3 illustrates a flow chart of a method 300 of routing data througha network. First, an edge device transmits a first applicationrequirement and a second application requirement to a network controller(step 301). Then, the edge device receives a first data routingstructure and a second data routing structure (step 302). Next, the edgedevice determines a first route (step 303). The edge device then encodesthe data packet with the selected route (step 304).

As set forth above, the method 300 includes transmitting a first and asecond application requirement to the network controller (step 301). Asdescribed above, each edge device includes one or more hosts executingone or more applications. The edge device transmits the requirements ofthe applications it is executing to the network controller. For example,and referring to FIG. 1, suppose that host 105(A) is running a firstapplication and a second application. Assume the first application islatency sensitive and the second application is bandwidth sensitive(i.e., requires a large amount of bandwidth). The host then transmitsthese specific bandwidth and latency requirements to the networkcontroller.

Next, the edge device receives a first data routing structure and asecond data routing structure configured responsive to the first andsecond application requirements, respectively (step 302). As describedabove, the network controller generates data routing structures thatinclude different routes responsive to the different applicationrequirements. In some implementations, the data routing structures aregenerated with a prediction-based traffic algorithm. Theprediction-based traffic algorithm collects performance information fromthe network and determines routes based on the average traffic throughthe network. The performance information may be collected over arelatively short period of time to provide “online” adaptive routes, orthe performance information may be collected over relatively longperiods of time to provide “offline” routes that incorporate historicalaverages of traffic demands through the network. In otherimplementations, the data routing structures are generated using anoblivious routing algorithm, where the network controller generates therouting structures responsive to only the source and target node. In yetother implementations, the data routing structures are determined usinga hybrid of the adaptive routing algorithms and the oblivious routingalgorithms. For example, during periods of low traffic demand theoblivious routing algorithms may be used to generate the data routingstructures, but during periods of increased demand adaptive routingalgorithms may be used to generate the data routing structures. Thenetwork controller may provide the edge device with a data routingstructure that includes dedicated routes for data requiring low latency.In some implementations, to increase network efficiency, the networkcontroller collects application requirements from substantially all ofthe edge devices (and the applications executing thereon) beforeprogramming the switches and edge devices of the network with aplurality of data routing structures. For example, the networkcontroller may wait for substantially all of the applicationrequirements to be received so that it does not generate data routingstructures that include conflicting routes (e.g., having a first edgedevice that requires a large amount of bandwidth to concurrently routedata over a link that is shared with a second edge device that isexecuting a latency sensitive application).

Next, the edge device determines a first route (step 303). As describedabove, the host device of each edge device may be executing a pluralityof applications, each application having different requirements. Theapplication references the data routing structure and selects the firstroute responsive to the application's requirements. Continuing the aboveexample where host 105(A) is running a first application that is latencysensitive and the second application that is bandwidth sensitive, thesecond application references the data routing structure to determine aroute for applications with bandwidth sensitive requirements. Referringback to FIG. 1, and continuing the example, if host 105(A) is runningthe first application that is latency sensitive and the secondapplication that is bandwidth sensitive, the network controller mayprogram the switch 104(A) with four data routing structures. The fourdata routing structures may include: (1) a route wherein a firstapplication data packet destined for host 105(B) uses core switch101(D); (2) a route wherein a first application data packet destined forhost 105(C) uses core switch 101(E); (3) a route wherein a secondapplication data packet destined for host 105(B) uses core switch 101(D)and core switch 101(G); (4) a route wherein a second application datapacket destined for host 105(C) uses core switch 101(D) and core switch101(G). In this example, the application selects route (3) to route thebandwidth sensitive data packets from host 105 a to host 105 b. In someimplementations, the selected route indicates a complete path throughthe network, or in the case of loose source routing, only specificpoints along the route.

After determining the first data route, the application encodes the datapacket with the first route (step 304). For example, as the applicationconstructs the data packet, the application may use GRE to encode theroute for the data packet. In this example, the application creates adata packet with a plurality of nested headers. Upon arrival at eachswitch along the route, the switch removes the outermost to reveal towhere it should next forward the data packet.

Implementations of the subject matter and the operations described inthis specification can be implemented in digital electronic circuitry,or in computer software, firmware, or hardware, including the structuresdisclosed in this specification and their structural equivalents, or incombinations of one or more of them. The subject matter described inthis specification can be implemented as one or more computer programs,i.e., one or more modules of computer program instructions, encoded onone or more computer storage media for execution by, or to control theoperation of, data processing apparatus.

A computer readable medium can be, or be included in, acomputer-readable storage device, a computer-readable storage substrate,a random or serial access memory array or device, or a combination ofone or more of them. Moreover, while a computer readable medium is not apropagated signal, a computer storage medium can be a source ordestination of computer program instructions encoded in anartificially-generated propagated signal. The computer storage mediumcan also be, or be included in, one or more separate components or media(e.g., multiple CDs, disks, or other storage devices). Accordingly, thecomputer readable medium is tangible and non-transitory.

The operations described in this specification can be performed by adata processing apparatus on data stored on one or morecomputer-readable storage devices or received from other sources. Theterm “data processing apparatus” or “computing device” encompasses allkinds of apparatus, devices, and machines for processing data, includingby way of example a programmable processor, a computer, a system on achip, or multiple ones, or combinations of the foregoing The apparatuscan include special purpose logic circuitry, e.g., an FPGA (fieldprogrammable gate array) or an ASIC. The apparatus can also include, inaddition to hardware, code that creates an execution environment for thecomputer program in question, e.g., code that constitutes processorfirmware, a protocol stack, a database management system, an operatingsystem, a cross-platform runtime environment, a virtual machine, or acombination of one or more of them. The apparatus and executionenvironment can realize various different computing modelinfrastructures, such as web services, distributed computing and gridcomputing infrastructures.

A computer program (also known as a program, software, softwareapplication, script, or code) can be written in any form of programminglanguage, including compiled or interpreted languages, declarative orprocedural languages, and it can be deployed in any form, including as astand-alone program or as a module, component, subroutine, object, orother unit suitable for use in a computing environment. A computerprogram may, but need not, correspond to a file in a file system. Aprogram can be stored in a portion of a file that holds other programsor data (e.g., one or more scripts stored in a markup languagedocument), in a single file dedicated to the program in question, or inmultiple coordinated files (e.g., files that store one or more modules,sub-programs, or portions of code). A computer program can be deployedto be executed on one computer or on multiple computers that are locatedat one site or distributed across multiple sites and interconnected by acommunication network.

Processors suitable for the execution of a computer program include, byway of example, both general and special purpose microprocessors, andany one or more processors of any kind of computer. Generally, aprocessor will receive instructions and data from a read-only memory ora random access memory or both. The essential elements of a computer area processor for performing actions in accordance with instructions andone or more memory devices for storing instructions and data. Generally,a computer will also include, or be operatively coupled to receive datafrom or transfer data to, or both, one or more mass storage devices forstoring data, e.g., magnetic, magneto-optical disks, or optical disks.However, a computer need not have such devices.

While this specification contains many specific implementation details,these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of anyinventions or of what may be claimed, but rather as descriptions offeatures specific to particular implementations of particularinventions. Certain features described in this specification in thecontext of separate implementations can also be implemented incombination in a single implementation. Conversely, various featuresdescribed in the context of a single implementation can also beimplemented in multiple implementations separately or in any suitablesubcombination. Moreover, although features may be described above asacting in certain combinations and even initially claimed as such, oneor more features from a claimed combination can in some cases be excisedfrom the combination, and the claimed combination may be directed to asubcombination or variation of a subcombination.

Similarly, while operations are depicted in the drawings in a particularorder, this should not be understood as requiring that such operationsbe performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, orthat all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirableresults. In certain circumstances, multitasking and parallel processingmay be advantageous. Moreover, the separation of various systemcomponents in the implementations described above should not beunderstood as requiring such separation in all implementations, and itshould be understood that the described program components and systemscan generally be integrated in a single product or packaged intomultiple products.

Thus, particular implementations of the subject matter have beendescribed. Other implementations are within the scope of the followingclaims. In some cases, the actions recited in the claims can beperformed in a different order and still achieve desirable results. Inaddition, the processes depicted in the accompanying figures do notnecessarily require the particular order shown, or sequential order, toachieve desirable results. In certain implementations, multitasking andparallel processing may be advantageous.

What is claimed:
 1. A method of controlling network routes, the methodcomprising: providing a network, the network comprising: a plurality ofedge devices, each of the plurality of edge devices executing anapplication having an application requirement and each of the pluralityof edge devices having a forwarding engine; a plurality of core switchesinterconnecting the plurality of edge devices; and a network controllercoupled to each of the plurality of edge devices and the plurality ofcore switches; receiving, by the network controller, a plurality ofapplication requirements during an initiation phase of the application,the plurality of application requirements including applicationrequirements of the applications executing on the plurality of edgedevices, wherein the plurality of application requirements includes atleast one hard application requirement and at least one soft applicationrequirement; determining, by the network controller, a plurality ofroutes responsive to the received application requirements; programming,by the network controller, the forwarding engine of each of theplurality of edge devices and a forwarding engine of each of theplurality of core switches responsive to the determined plurality ofroutes; and instructing applications that have soft applicationrequirements to execute in response to determining that hard applicationrequirements have been met and soft application requirements have notbeen met.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the application requirementincludes at least one of an edge device destination, a bandwidthrequirement, and a latency requirement.
 3. The method of claim 1,wherein the forwarding engine of each of the plurality of edge devicesis a software-based forwarding engine.
 4. The method of claim 1, whereinthe forwarding engine of each of the plurality of core switches is ahardware-based forwarding engine.
 5. The method of claim 1, whereinprogramming further comprises programming the forwarding engine of eachof the plurality of edge devices and the forwarding engine of each ofthe plurality of core switches with the same protocol.
 6. The method ofclaim 5, wherein the protocol is one of OpenFlow.
 7. The method of claim1, wherein programming further comprises programming the forwardingengine of each of the plurality of edge devices and the forwardingengine of each of the plurality of core switches to route data using oneof source routing, multiprotocol label switching, loose source routing,and generic routing encapsulation.
 8. The method of claim 1, whereinprogramming further comprises storing a second plurality of routes inthe forwarding engine of each at least one of the edge devices for usewith a second application executing on the at least one edge device. 9.A system for controlling network routes, the system comprising: anetwork comprising a plurality of edge devices, each of the plurality ofedge devices executing an application having an application requirementand each of the plurality of edge devices having a forwarding engine,and a plurality of core switches interconnecting the plurality of edgedevices; and a network controller coupled to each of the plurality ofedge devices and the plurality of core switches, the network controllerconfigured to: receive a plurality of application requirements during aninitiation phase of the application, the plurality of applicationrequirements including application requirements of the applicationsexecuting on the plurality of edge devices, wherein the plurality ofapplication requirements includes at least one hard applicationrequirement and at least one soft application requirement; determine aplurality of routes responsive to the received application requirements;program the forwarding engine of each of the plurality of edge devicesand a forwarding engine of each of the plurality of core switchesresponsive to the determined plurality of routes; and instructapplications that have soft application requirements to execute inresponse to determining that hard application requirements have been metand soft application requirements have not been met.
 10. The system ofclaim 9, wherein the application requirement includes at least one of anedge device destination, a bandwidth requirement, and a latencyrequirement.
 11. The system of claim 9, wherein the forwarding engine ofeach of the plurality of edge devices is a software-based forwardingengine.
 12. The system of claim 9, wherein the forwarding engine of eachof the plurality of core switches is a hardware-based forwarding engine.13. The system of claim 9, wherein the network controller is furtherconfigured to program the forwarding engine of each of the plurality ofedge devices and the forwarding engine of each of the plurality of coreswitches with the same protocol.
 14. The system of claim 13, wherein theprotocol is one of OpenFlow.
 15. The system of claim 9, wherein thenetwork controller is further configured to program the forwardingengine of each of the plurality of edge devices and the forwardingengine of each of the plurality of core switches to route data using oneof source routing, multiprotocol label switching, loose source routing,and generic routing encapsulation.
 16. The system of claim 9, whereinthe network controller is further configured to program a secondplurality of routes in the forwarding engine of each at least one of theedge devices for use with a second application executing on the at leastone edge device.
 17. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of theplurality of application requirements comprises an availability of anetwork service.